Search - Bálint Karosi :: Bach: Clavierübung III - The Chorales

Johann Sebastian Bach was already in his forties when he decided to publish a representative collection of his keyboard works. Between 1726 and 1741 he published the four parts of his Clavierübung (Keyboard Exercise). The third part of the Clavierübung is a comprehensive collection of the numerous types of organ chorale that Bach composed over the more than three decades of his career. Some of the chorale settings may have had earlier models that were revised for the inclusion in the publication. Engraving of the collection began around 173536 and the volume was finally issued in 1739. The publication of the Clavierübung falls into an important time in Bachs life. It was a period in which he collected and revised earlier works, explored new genres (like the oratorio), and looked for new inspirations from contemporaries like Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (16901749), a prolific composer of cantatas and operas at the court in Gotha. It was also a time in which Bach tried to enhance his public image. Publishing a representative collection of his keyboard works was part of this attempt.